Jamaica reports its first case of Zika virus

Zika, a virus transmitted through mosquito bites, is affecting multiple countries in Latin America, and is expected to spread to the U.S.
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An Aedes aegypti mosquito is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. The mosquito is a vector for the proliferation of the Zika virus currently spreading throughout Latin America. New figures from Brazil's Health Ministry show that the Zika virus outbreak has not caused as many confirmed cases of a rare brain defect as first feared.(Photo: Felipe Dana, AP)

Jamaican health officials confirmed the Caribbean nation's first case of the Zika virus Saturday in a 4-year-old child who recently returned from a trip to Texas.

The child, who has now recovered, began showing symptoms Jan. 17 after visiting the U.S. state, Jamaica's Ministry of Health said in a statement.

It's unclear whether the child picked up the virus in Jamaica or Texas. The ministry said it is investigating the case to determine the source of the infection.

The virus has been associated with a sharp jump in the birth of babies with abnormally small heads, mainly in Brazil. It is also linked to increases in Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, causing paralysis.

Jamaican Health Minister Horace Dalley said in the statement that the child’s parents and family have been contacted and briefed by a team from the ministry. No other family members are ill at this time, according to the statement, first reported by Nationwide Radio's Abka Fitz-Henley.

Dalley said he plans to provide a full update on the case Monday.

The mosquito-borne infection has been detected in some 24 countries and territories in the Americas since Brazil reported its first case in May, Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said this week.

The Jamaican health ministry, which announced its first case of the Zika virus, warns Jamaicans to be alert.(Photo: Jamaica ministry of health)

WHO will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to determine how to confront the Zika virus, which Chan said is "spreading explosively" in the Americas.

The CDC recommends women who have recently traveled to these places during their pregnancy be screened and monitored for the virus.

All three of the USA's biggest airlines are allowing some customers to cancel or postpone trips if they’re flying to areas affected by Zika. American, United and Delta each made the move this week amid rising concerns about the spread of the virus.

Jamaica already mounted a campaign to advise people, particularly pregnant women, to take extra precaution to avoid being bitten by the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit the Zika virus.

The health ministry's website — which features the words "Be Aware, Zika is near" crawling across the top of the screen — warns Jamaicans to: "Be prepared. Do your part by preventing mosquito breeding."

Although a number of returning U.S. travelers have been infected with the Zika virus while visiting Latin America, the virus is not causing outbreaks in the continental U.S., health officials said this week.

Thirty-one Americans in 11 states and Washington, D.C., have been diagnosed with a Zika infection contracted while traveling abroad, said Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of the Zika cases is a pregnant woman in New York City, which has two other cases.

Those are isolated cases, however, and very different from the Zika epidemic in Brazil, which had an estimated 1 million Zika infections by the end of last year. Right now, people on the U.S. mainland are contracting the virus only after they have traveled to an area with a Zika epidemic.

Travelers frequently contract diseases, from malaria to measles, while abroad. The CDC diagnosed 14 returning travelers with Zika from 2007 to 2014. None of these cases sparked outbreaks.

Zika spreads best in tropical areas because warmth helps the virus reproduce, said Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, an assistant professor in the department of environmental sciences at Emory College in Atlanta.

That explains why the mosquitoes that spread Zika virus have gained a foothold in two U.S. territories — Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.